The Rejected Alpha's Vengeance

Chapter 195: Of Forced And Untested Loyalties

[JER]

"Hello, Sicario. First of all, my condolences for the deaths of our friends, warriors, and families. The ambush took away people that we loved and I want to promise you that we won't be ambushed again.

"I understand the pain all feel and for that very reason, I want to give you all the chance to choose. If you can fight, but don't want to, you can step back. However, if you can fight and want to join the battle, please set up the right side.

"This is not to discriminate. I know most of us lost our entire families and it would be selfish to ask you to fight for our home, when you have nothing anchoring you anymore," Jer greeted his people who had assembled on the second day that Hawi had given them.

He knew there were so many questions but that he would answer the mall later. They had things to attend to and with their dead already buried, there was only one way forward.

Of course, Russel had kept her promise and had swayed the Sicario warriors with magic to agree to whatever Jer suggested. It was an unfair thing for the warlock to do, but he had to work his way into killing Rukiya Greyson.

There was no other way to approve this because that was the only reason his Malika was alive. But what if Jer found out Malika was an immortal?

"We will fight beside you, Alpha. Those of us who will remain here will do so to make sure that the pack remains protected. However, we have a question about what happened last night. Do you know if that could have caused the intense weather changes?

'It is not normal that there are endless storms, the winds, the ground shaking and there were several explosions heard. Do we need to worry about that?" one of the warriors asked Jer.

It had been a long night for everyone in the realm the previous night, but then none of them had an explanation for that.

Granted, it was abnormal but what could he tell his people about that? How could he make them understand something that even he didn't understand? Was that what he would be doing with his life this time?

"That was from the midlands. I suppose the rogues triggered a warlock and got to pay the price for it. Do not worry yourselves over that. Any more questions?" Jer asked as he looked at his warriors.

At the back of the group of warriors, Jer could see Elodie and Theo.

They had grim faces on, probably because they had bruised so many of their friends and families. It had never been easy to bury the dead, especially the innocents and children who knew nothing of the war.

It was a triggering subject and Elodie was right to be in that state. She couldn't imagine how the kids had not been cared for by the warriors slicing through them. It had been a truthless battle, on that one no mercy.

What broke Elodie's heart even more was the fact that the children that died, all had sword wounds.

Some had their bodies detached almost like the warriors were determined to make sure the children never really survived that. Some of the children were molested and it was disappointing on so many fronts.

Whatever had happened at war two nights ago was something that Elodie was never going to forgive. The kids were where she drew the line, perhaps that's why she had a frown on her face and was ready to go to war if Jer gave the go-ahead.

She would slaughter the warriors for hurting the children. But would it make any difference if she learned that Hawi had told her warriors to do whatever they wanted as long as they'd defeated Sicario, even at the expense of the innocents?

Would it make it all any better or would it make Elodie question everything she knew about their best friend? However, Elodie couldn't use her memories of Hawi from the past years to gauge what Hawi was this time.

The woman was created by pain, anger, and disappointment.

She had changed because of her losses and there was nothing that Elodie could relate to with Hawi. Perhaps the battle was it, but other than that, Elodie didn't know this version of Hawi very well and she needed to be careful.

"Great. Now that there are no questions. I believe you already know what is expected. A retaliation. Tonight, we will attack the camp of our attackers. You must keep in mind that some of them have magic, but other than that most 0fn them are just like us.

"Be your best and avenge our fallen. May the goddess be with us all," Jer said to his warriors before dismissing them.

He wasn't sure what he had expected. But the fact that they were totally submissive made him feel like so much of a file. He was the one Alpha who couldn't command his army, and had to use magic to force them into submission.

He had turned the strongest of warriors into potato heads that followed him into whatever he wanted. It was a great risk, but the circumstances didn't exactly leave him with a chance to explain why this was happening.

He would apologize for it later, but until then he would sue them as he wanted.

"Your magic is really working wonders, Jer. Is that what you were aiming for all this time? Making us all headless so we couldn't object?" Elodie asked once it was just her and Jer at the royal announcement square. She was disappointed, really.

Granted, she knew that this had to be done, but to take away his people's voices like that and then pretend that he was giving them a choice, was fucked up. It was cruel., easily the cruelest of things, and yet Jeremiah Warner hadn't seen any problem with that.

If anything, he seemed motivated to go to war with them because they would never say no to any of his dead, however ludicrous they were.

"I don't know what you talk of," Jer denied and Elodie stared at him as if to ask him if they were kids who wanted to play the game of truths. It wasn't going to end well for Her on any front, so the sooner they handled this, the sooner they would eat through it.

"Oh, really now? So, you want to deny that the only reason I am the only unaffected wolf with your charm is that Awuor had cast an everlasting protection spell on me, no?" Elodie asked Her who stared at her wondering what she was on about.

Then again, he knew the kind of bond that Elodie One and Hawi had had. They had been best friends and more than sisters. They were everything to each other. Theirs was the kind of loyalty that no one would ever come between.

It had been like that for years, and only ever changed when Hawi murdered her mother, or at least that's what Elodie was made to believe. With that Jer was certain that he had broken Elodie's loyalty to Hawi.

So, what would he do if he realized that this woman never changed sodas and was always loyal to Hawi and her home?

"You need to prepare. We will be attacking their camp tonight, I hope you have no problems with that, Your Highness," Jer said dismissively before he walked blacks to his office where the council was awaiting for him.